Does A time normally get shorter?

[Nickie18]

My 3 month old has had about 5 days of OT and short napping. Finally today I was able ot stay with her and follow her cues- her A time used to be 1h30min for 1-2 hour nap. But today I put her down at first signs of tiredness at 1h20min and she slept for 2 hours both times... It really is much shorter and even the A time after bath is shorter... Is that normal? She did recently start rolling with the woombie and we had to get her arms out. I didn't think that A time was supposed to get shorter as she got older?

[scruffymax]

I think if they've got a bit of built up OT then they can do well on a day or 2 of shorter A times to catch up, but then you'll probably find she'll need to increase A time again or she'll get UT naps.

[Nickie18]

Thank you... We will try the shorter A again tomorrow and see how the naps go. After the last few days if rather have an UT nap than OT... So fussy!

[*Ali*]

1hr20 is pretty average for 3mo. Maybe you were keeping her up too long before and this was always her ideal time? Or as pp says maybe she is just getting over OT.

[Nickie18]

Today her A time is even shorter after a great night of sleep. Only 1h15 min this am git us a 2 hour nap but then 1h12 min gave us a short 30 min nap! I just don't know what to do with her. And now I think she caught big bros cold...

[*Ali*]

Maybe she is doing shorter A times because she is sick then.

[Nickie18]

I think that there are just too many things going on... her rolling, new swaddle, new formula, now with a cold. Who knows anymore. I am trying to read her but she is fussy and hard to tell. I hope this does not last too long- I was looking forward to her having longer A times and less naps soon. And she never settles mid nap with any help.

Any suggestions or just wait it out? We keep having to feed right before nap.

[Erin M]

Moving you over to EASY...

[*Ali*]

I'd see how she does when she gets over the cold. All those things you mentioned can mess with sleep so it may be a case of looking at each one in turn (or waiting for her to adjust) if she doesn't seem to recover after the cold.

[Nickie18]

2 good naps at 1h15min. Better wind down and she is still sick. I just hope her A time gets longer soon! I hate having so many naps! And she still is having a 30 min in the am.

When do kiddos typically extend their A time in the 3-4 month range? I would like to be on 4 hour EASY before I go back to work in 3 weeks, but that is not looking good...

[*Ali*]

Tracy said LOs should be on a 3hr EASY until 4mo and then transition to a 4hr EASY around that age but that some BF babies would not get to 4hrly feeds until later, possibly 6mo. My two were both on 4hr EASY more of less by 4.5mo and we EBF.

It could be if she is only having 30 min nap in the AM she is getting OT. Her following A time would be shorter than a full A time after a very short nap like that.

[Nickie18]

Thank you!

We are still having issues... Cold is still messing her up with stuffy nose but getting better. She seems to finally accept being out of the swaddle in a sleep bag. Though she rolls and gets stuck sometimes.

We seem to have regressed even more. Using 1h15min A time and still short naps. Also now waking twice at night for NF when we were down to almost none... This has been 2 weeks now. I just wonder if once this cold is gone and she is still doing this, that maybe I just need to start her on 3.5 EASY- she is 14 weeks today. I am just so tired now after getting used ot only one wake at night. My DS1 was sleeping from 7:30-6:30a by this time with no wake ups...

[*Ali*]

Can you post the day in EAS format? And sorry, remind me are you feeding from breast or bottle?

They are all different of course and 1-2 NFs is really common at this age.

[Nickie18]

Doing bottle feeds since age 3 weeks.

yesterday EASY:
MN NF: 5 oz
4 AM NF: 3.5 oz

7:49am- she woke
E- 5 oz
S: 9:05- some crying, shushed
A: 9:50- whine on and off
E: 10:50- 5 oz
S: 11:10
A: 1:15p- woke her
E: 1:50- 5 oz
S: 2:25pm into room as crying, in bed by 2:30, sleep at 2:32
A: 3:25, fall asleep at 3:30-3:45 as I APOP
A: 3:45p
E: 4:50p- 5.5 oz
S: 5:15p- sleep by 5:30p with shush pat
    5:50 did wake ot sleep- slept until 6:30p
A: 6:30p- wake her
E: 7:10- 4 oz
A: bath, bedtime books
E:7:50p- 2 oz
S: 8pm- sleep right away

TODAY:
NF- 1:30am- 4.5 oz
NF- 6:20am- only fed 2 oz- would not fall back asleep until shush

S:7:30-8:25am
E: she woke and fed at 8:25am- 4 oz
S: 9:40- shushed until 9:45am
A: 10:20- she woke, on/off cry, shushed, out of bed at 10:45
E: 11:25am- 6 oz
S: 11:45- immediate sleep
A: 12:50p- woke her self, whined on and off until crying at 1:10p- shushed, removed from bed at 1:20pm

And here we are-
So confusing to me...

Any help? Change A longer/shorter? The two NF are killing us with the schedule and wake up. She used to NF at 4am and then sleep until 8am when we woke her...

[Nickie18]

So, later today she had a 45 min nap after 1 h 25 min and then 45 min nap after 1 h 30 min, and then short nap after long A (1h50 min due to feeding time). We are all messed up if the first nap is short and have to feed before sleep for every nap after that. Making it very hard and no naps more than 1 hour today... I guess her A time is now increasing from today? Seems she is also teething.

Any ideas on A times for her now? Should we try 1h30min tomorrow given the UT naps from today?.